If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Start Your Anxiety Revolution Today ForFREE.

Click below to watch a short 3 MINUTE video and discover how the free Anxiety Revolution video series can help you overcome your anxiety or panic attacks and change your life.

I'm starting to get back out again. I find small trips to places I can get out of work the best, like walk in CVS, look around, leave if it's too much. (the mall in other words wouldn't work!) I'm getting out more and more and even though it's tough I feel better about myself. I will say my mom couldn't even go to her mailbox at the end of her driveway for months when she was in her 20s. This is the same lady that in her 50's has been cruising the world! She travels 7-8 months out of the year and if panic hits she just figures 'screw it', I can do it!

Keep it up. Eventually it gets easier. I would not avoid the malls. Put yourself there also. Eventually this will all be behind you. I had agoraphobia and put myself in stores and malls almost every day. Malls were the worst. After I started to get used to the crowd in malls I started to pay attention to what was causing me to have panic. What I found was I would start to feel panic when people would pop into my peripheral vision. Panic comes from fear of the the illness not fear of being in crowds. What I found was every time I started to have panic I would pay attention to the sensation and fear it because the sensation is horrible. Fear fuels panic, so try to ignore it once it wants to hit. Divert your attention to something other than the sensation. Another thing I caught myself doing was when I would walk into a store I would immediately look to see how many people are in the store. I now just walk in and pay attention to what I'm there for not how many people are there. No matter how much anxiety or panic wants to come on ignore it and go about your business and eventually the panic wi dissolve into nothing.

Agoraphobia can be a very debilitating condition, I know because I've been there before, you must understand that what your experiencing is only an emotion not an illness, you are suffering from too much of the emotion of fear, your mind is constantly sending out risk assessments to search for a potential threat, but in anxiety disorders...no real threat is present in our environment, so we automatically create the fear and we start to send out risk assessents, "What if" i leave my house and everyone laughs at me etc, the way to overcome anxiety is to retrain your amygdala (a small organ in the brain responsible for emotions) into knowing your safe, feel free to drop me a private message and I'll explain more
Thanks

Agoraphobia can be a very debilitating condition, I know because I've been there before, you must understand that what your experiencing is only an emotion not an illness, you are suffering from too much of the emotion of fear, your mind is constantly sending out risk assessments to search for a potential threat, but in anxiety disorders...no real threat is present in our environment, so we automatically create the fear and we start to send out risk assessents, "What if" i leave my house and everyone laughs at me etc, the way to overcome anxiety is to retrain your amygdala (a small organ in the brain responsible for emotions) into knowing your safe, feel free to drop me a private message and I'll explain more Thanks

Great post Greggs2583

I love your concept of emotional risk assesment.

"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” - C.G. Jung

I have been keeping my self safe and not going anywhere afraid of dying . My bf lives about an hr away and my first ride out was horrible ! I had to call the crisis line to talk to me almost the whole way out . Second time was coming home it wasn't as bad but I still had a panic attack ( this weekend I drove out here but I bought audio books to listen to .. Anxiety and phobias and purpose driven life and what a difference it made ... Baby steps .. I have to fly in 2 weeks and I am freaking out!!!!! Not sure how to deal with this one ??? Any help would be great

I constantly feel like I'm losing my mind too. You're not! People do not go crazy from anxiety or panic attacks or agoraphobia. You still have a grip on reality right? As hard as it is you have to look for a new therapist. When you call them, tell them how hard it is for you and tell them you really need help just even getting to the office. I guarantee you they will help. I go to mine every single week and every single week I don't want to, but those days that it is the hardest are the days you need it the most. We have anxiety and panic attacks, but those disorders do not define who we are, don't forget that! No matter how horrible you feel, you will get through it and you will come out stronger than ever. I hope this helps!

I've found with me personally, the attacks started gradually. I felt just horrible for about 2 weeks then I experienced my first one. My doctor wouldn;t tell me this but what I later found out was I had a vitamin deficiency of D and B, something that blood tests don't even look for. When I corrected the deficiency in my body, that was when I was able to start healing, physically and mentally. It's not something you won't get over. I got through it after 3 years of suffering from it and today, I feel myself again.

At one point I could not go out at all. I spent Christmas day one time alone in my bedroom with bags of garbage everywhere because I was too scared to even go out to the trash area.

I have to say that medication (Nardil) has helped me at least get out of the house but it is not the be-all-and-end-all. Medication only works in conjunction with some form of cognitive restructuring - understanding your thought processes and changing them

Perhaps visit your General practitioner and explain again exactly what is going on. Beyond that try looking at "emotional release" systems. Personally I have been able to almost neutralise certain beliefs and feelings using EFT and PSTEC.

Does anyone else ever get struck by thoughts that they can't trust humans. That all people are possessed by the devil and are not what they appear to be. This is my obsessional fear but I never ever come across anyone else who experiences such thoughts. Am I completely crazy???????????? When with other people I often involuntarily imagine what is within a person's head and body and imagine all kinds of weird black images that upset me and cause panic attacks. Can anyone else relate to this????????????????????????????????????

I absolutely do not trust people. I put faith in them, but I have it in my head that everyone is very untrustworthy. I barely even can say that I trust my mom anymore. It sometimes makes me feel like my brain is literally being twisted (like someone ringing out a rag).. and when I do have to trust people, I feel extremely panicky (which I've learned to hide for the most part)

I absolutely do not trust people. I put faith in them, but I have it in my head that everyone is very untrustworthy. I barely even can say that I trust my mom anymore. It sometimes makes me feel like my brain is literally being twisted (like someone ringing out a rag).. and when I do have to trust people, I feel extremely panicky (which I've learned to hide for the most part)[/QUOTE

Thank you all for sharing these stories, I feel like I'm reading my own story. Makes me feel like I'm not alone or crazy (which I feel all the time) it's hard to talk to anyone about my anxiety because people don't relate. They think I'm over exaggerating.